The present invention relates to an Internet browsing system and method, and more particularly to an Internet browsing system and method that provides a user with the ability to have multiple identities and establish different reputations for each identity on the Internet.
Internet users routinely have to register at a site before they can access information and materials offered by that site. Web site operators can utilize this information for purposes that are not always in the best interest of the user. For example, news media sites can track the material accessed by individual readers and vendors can track the purchases of individual buyers. In some cases, the user may favor such tracking because it allows suppliers to direct to the user materials that the user would like to see or buy. However, in other cases the user may want to keep their identity private.
Related to the registration issue is the mechanism known as xe2x80x9ccookiesxe2x80x9d. Cookies were originally established to provide a simple mechanism for users to access their favorite web sites without having to go through the lengthy process of identifying themselves every time they visit. For instance, upon visiting a site, a user may be asked to reveal their name and perhaps some personal or financial information required to gain access to that site in the future. The site will then place a cookie or client identifier containing this information on your system. The user""s identity may not be known to the web site operators, but the operators can still track the interactions of the user with the site by the identification information. This allows web site operators to track the movement of the user across the Internet and build detailed profiles of their interests, spending habits and lifestyles. Although most browsers now allow a user to approve or reject the requests for cookies, the process tends to be annoying and time consuming. Furthermore, when the user allows access through the cookie mechanism, there is the possibility that at some time later the user""s identity may come about and the history of the user""s browsing activity become associated with the user""s true identity. Additionally, different web sites under different names may use information acquired through the cookies mechanism in one site with registration in another site, and associate the user with certain attributes that the user intended to keep private.
In electronic commerce applications participants have incentives to build a good reputation. Participants with better reputations avail themselves to more business. For example, the feedback mechanism implemented by ebay.com helps buyers decide whether they are taking into account the past history of the seller. In other applications, sellers rely on credit history of buyers in deciding what prospective client will be acceptable. In some commerce applications, buyers get volume discounts so they have an incentive to identify themselves when involved in a business transaction. In all of the above transactions, the true identity of the business or individual may still be hidden but the reputations established via the xe2x80x9ccookiexe2x80x9d or some other user identification mechanism.
In certain electronic commerce transactions, some negotiation precedes an agreement on the price. Buyers may wish that information about place of residence, occupation, ethnicity, etc. is kept private, since such information may weaken the buyer""s buying position to the seller if the seller is aware that a buyer may pay a higher price. Similarly, past history may weaken the buyer""s bargaining position, so it would be better to hide such history during these transactions.
Accordingly, there is a strong need in the art for a system and/or method for an Internet user to establish multiple identities and multiple reputations corresponding to those identities from a single computer system.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system and method is provided that allows a single user to maintain on the user""s personal machine multiple identities for browsing on the Internet and establish multiple reputations corresponding to the multiple identities. The system includes a multiple identity browser that allows a user to create and select from amongst a plurality of identities. The multiple identity browser includes a list of free e-mail web sites for establishing e-mail addresses corresponding to the plurality of identities. The user can also create and store user names and passwords that the user utilizes at various web sites. An automatic cookie management module is provided that manipulates and stores cookie data sets corresponding to each of a plurality of identities in a multiple identity database module. The cookie management module sets the current cookie data set corresponding to the current identity set by the user in the multiple identity browser. The cookie management module also stores search history for each identity and sets the current search history to the current identity set by the user in the multiple identity browser.
In a preferred aspect of the invention, the system is provided with an e-mail receiving module. The e-mail receiving module allows a user to send, retrieve and view e-mail messages corresponding to different e-mail addresses associated with different identities. The user can choose to associate an e-mail address with a specific identity. chosen from amongst a plurality of free e-mail web sites. The e-mail receiving module can automatically look up a registered e-mail address located in free e-mail site, login to that site and retrieve and display that e-mail message without any interaction from the user. The system also includes a warning system that monitors the use of identities and provides the user with correct usages of identities in different sites and applications. The warning system can also inform a user if e-mail messages that are being sent have been sent by another identity, so that the integrity of each identity is maintained.
Thus, according to one aspect of the present invention, a system that provides a user with the ability to establish multiple identities while browsing on the Internet is provided. The system includes a multiple identity web browser module adapted to allow the user to establish multiple identities on a single client computer and an automatic cookie management module adapted to manipulate a plurality of cookie data sets corresponding to a plurality of established identities and set a current cookie data set to correspond to a current identity, such that a web site visited by the current identity has access only to the current cookie data set.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an Internet browsing methodology is provided. The methodology includes the steps of establishing a plurality of identities on a single computer, establishing a plurality of reputations corresponding to the plurality of identities by browsing activity on the Internet under each of the plurality of identities, each identity having a corresponding cookie data set and a corresponding search history, saving each of the cookie data sets and the search histories corresponding to each of the plurality of identities in a memory associated with the single computer, selecting a current identity from amongst the plurality of identities and setting a current cookie data set and a current search history with the cookie data set and the search history corresponding to the selected current identity.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a method for browsing the Internet is provided. The browsing methodology includes the steps of establishing a plurality of identities on a single computer, establishing a plurality of e-mail addresses corresponding to the plurality of identities, at least one of the e-mail addresses located from a list of e-mail web sites, retrieving e-mail messages from the at least one of the e-mail addresses located from the list of e-mail web sites by providing e-mail login information to the site and transferring the e-mail message to the single computer and displaying the list of e-mail messages on the single computer.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention an Internet browser system is provided. The system includes a computer adapted to be employed by a user for establishing multiple identities over the Internet. The computer provides access to one or more web sites for establishing a cookie data set for a chosen identity, wherein the computer is further operable to limit a web site access to the cookie data set associated with the current chosen identity selected by the user.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention a server is provided that includes a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and a network interface coupled to the processor for transmitting and receiving data with at least one remote computer system. An automatic cookie management module is stored in the memory. The automatic cookie management module is adapted to manipulate a plurality of cookie data sets corresponding to a plurality of established identities and set a current cookie data set to correspond to a current identity.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention an electronic signal adapted to be transmitted between at least two computers is provided. The electronic signal includes an algorithm for selecting amongst a plurality of identities on the Internet. The algorithm provides a cookie data set corresponding to a chosen identity from the plurality of identities.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention a system that provides a user with the ability to establish multiple identities while browsing on the Internet is provided. The system includes means for establishing a plurality of identities on a single client computer and means for manipulating a plurality of cookie data sets corresponding to the plurality of established identities and setting a current cookie data set to correspond to a current identity, such that a web site visited by the current identity has access only to the current cookie data set.
In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention, a system that provides a user with the ability to establish multiple identities while browsing on the Internet is provided. The system includes a multiple identity web browser module adapted to allow the user to establish multiple identities on a single client computer, an automatic cookie management module adapted to manipulate a plurality of cookie data sets corresponding to a plurality of established identities and set a current cookie data set to correspond to a current identity, such that a web site visited by the current identity has access only to the current cookie data set, an e-mail receiving module adapted to display e-mail messages from e-mail addresses corresponding to the plurality of established identities and a multiple identity database module adapted to store cookie data sets and search history data corresponding to each of the plurality of established identities.